Ive had people ask and since I want to remember everything years from now, I thought id share the story of how Caelyn and Kira came into the world.

It started on Tuesday morning with a trip to the high risk doctor for my weekly appointment. I had been having braxton hicks for weeks, but all day they had been coming with cramps, which was not normal up until that point. They did a non-stress test to make sure babies were both doing well and they were able to pick up my contractions, but said they couldnt tell me if they were real or not at this point.

They kept coming all day and at around 7pm, I decided to start tracking them. They were around nine minutes apart, a minute and twenty seconds long and stayed that way, so we went to bed. I woke up around 3am and timed them by myself through about 8 contractions and then woke up Chris to time me, since they were about a minute and a half long and three and a half minutes apart. We decided to go to the hospital, but this happened to be the night that we were supposed to be getting a snow storm and it was already icy and starting to snow outside. We decided to call an ambulance and while I went with them, Chris and my mom took our stuff and two cars to the hospital.

When I got to the hospital, they evaluated me and while I was only dialated to 3, they decided to admit me since I was having twins, my contractions were about two minutes apart and still a minute and a half long and Caelyn’s bag of water was bulging. Chris met me and my mom shortly after. After admission, I was informed I had to stay in bed for continual monitoring by the on call doctor and couldnt use the wireless monitoring since it doesnt work for two babies. I was not happy about this, since it practically eliminated all my natural pain relief options. However, the nurses said that I didnt have to do so, if it was against my wishes and this doctor had never met me. My own OB happened to be on call an hour later and let me do intermittent monitoring, which meant twenty minutes in bed lying still and forty minutes of being able to move around.

However, Caelyn had different plans. She had been very low in my pelvis and they couldnt get a heartbeat read unless I stayed still in a certain position and didnt move. This was fine with the first few monitoring session, even with basically steady contractions with thirty seconds or less of a break in between. This also caused problems for finding their positions via ultrasound, since they had to start over with every contraction with multiples.

Eventually, the doctor came in to check on me and with the advice of her and encouragement from Chris and my mom, she broke Caelyn’s water. I had been having back labor from the beginning and while this helped me progress, it put added pressure on my back. A few hours after that, I was unable to stay still in the required position for intermittent monitoring, since I was no longer getting breaks in between contractions and my body was begging me to be able to move and relieve the back pressure. At this point, they suggested an epidural, so I could stay still for Caelyn’s heart to be monitored. I really did not want this and at this point, I was dilated to a seven. However, I needed to be able to lie completely still for the monitor to work that low on my belly and since I couldnt use any other pain relief method we had planned for, I agreed.

Getting the epidural was terrifying, because I was still having very strong and constant contractions and I needed to stay still, again. for about twenty minutes. I had a nurse help hold me down, but it was the worst pain I have ever felt, between the needles and contractions. After it was done, they gave me a test dose and while the contractions were about as bad as when we came to the hospital, I was able to stay still for monitoring, which was now continual. I also had to be hooked up to fluids, which I had avoided until this point by staying hydrated naturally.

After a nap, which no one seems to remember how long it was for, I woke up and was dilated to a ten. Chris got ready and we were brought to the OR, which is standard for all multiple deliveries. I was always able to move and feel my legs and body and since it was not a continual line automatically, I was able to feel contractions and know when to push. Chris was amazing and held my head and hand while pushing, as well as encouraging me. Caelyn was out after four contractions and they put her on me. After delayed cord clamping and wiping her off, they took her while I got ready to deliver Kira. She came shortly after and my doctor held her in place before hand, so she would stay head down. She came after two contractions and I got to have her on my chest, before she was taken and swapped for my wrapped Caelyn. I delivered the placenta, which I didnt have to push for and I had one small internal stage 1 tear repaired before Kira was brought to me and I had both our girls. We were then brought back to the same room for recovery before being brought to our huge twin mother and baby room for our hospital stay.

We had birth photography, so here are a few sharable pictures.